SECAUCUS, N.J. There probably aren't two more different sports than baseball and hockey.
Hockey: Speedand physicality. Non-stop action. Baseball: Lumbering at times, but ultra-strategic. Isolated in performance and production, but still a definitive team sport.
While the two sports are worlds apart, retired veterans of the two sports do share an admiration for the other.
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"We got a lot of respect for (baseball players), we got a ton of respect for what they do," former NHL goaltender Kevin Weekes told Sporting News during the filming of the second annual "MLB Network Ezekiel Ansah Jersey vs. NHL Network Challenge." "It's a tough gig 162 games a year.
"You're out there playing in the heat the Texas heat. In the peak of the summer. Playing in the cold, in April, when the season starts, or in the fall," Weekes continued. "That many reps? It's tough, man. It's tougher Ethan Pocic Jersey than you realize."
Sporting News got an exclusive inside look at the 2018"MLB Network vs. NHL Network Challenge," which is set to air in its entirety, segment by segment, this week on MLB and NHL Networks, starting Monday and concluding Friday. A half-hour recap show will grace your television sets at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on the NHL Network.
Seeing former athletes take hacks in a home run derby and throwing events is a sight to see. If you're a sucker for celebrity softball games (like I am) or pro athletes not afraid to shame themselves and flap some gums in the proce s then it's something you'll want to catch.
But deeper than just the events, geting to speak with some of the analysts from the networks, it's apparent that bonds with the opposite sport go further than just some games played in the studios and sharing a parking lot.
"A lot of people think in Canadawe don't play baseballbecause it's 10 months of winter," former New Jersey Devils stalwart and currentNHL Network analyst Ken Daneyko told SN with a laugh."My dream was to always pitch one inning in the major leagues.
"The grind of (baseball), not just physically, but mentally, I just can't imagine," Daneyko continued. "We hockey players played three a week, and that felt like a grind."
"It's really a mutual admiration society. We respect what these guys can do, and what they've done, and just how difficult it is," Weekes said.
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That is, frankly, extremely high praise coming from two former players with long hockey careers oftentimes, baseball can be made fun of for its methodic Cody Barton Jersey , trudging pace and lack of action. But, obviously, these athletes don't see it that way.
The two sports collide every day in Secaucus, N.J. the home studios of MLB Network and NHL Network and for the second consecutive year, the friendly rivalry between baseball and hockey "boilsover" in the backyard-games competition program. The show serves as a hype point for the 2018 NHL Winter Cla sic, which is set to airJan. 1 from Citi Field in New York.
Theshowcase oftalent in the Chris Carson Jersey backyard gamesincludes a home run derby, a throwing accuracy challenge on the baseball side, anda one-timer challenge and shooting accuracy competition on the hockey side. The challenge culminates with a trivia challenge, where members of the hockey squad answer questions about baseball, and vice versa.
It's not always fun, though (kind of).
"You realize how bad you are at the other sports," former major league pitcher and MLB Network analyst Ron Darling said with a wry smile. "What's funny is that I grew up such a big hockey fanduring the late '60s early '70s. Anyone that was my agejust fell in love with hockey.
"I think the great thing for all of us is, we used to play.I think all of us remember that we can't play Steve Largent Jersey anymore," Darling said with a laugh. "So I think we're competitive, but we also want to make it fun. If you had us doing this at 25 years old, this wouldn't make great TV."
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He's not half wrong, either: Getting a glimpse ofDaneyko's lighttower power in Studio 42 while trying to hit home runs(but actually potentiallydestroying lighting rigsinstead) was a pretty cool thing to take in.On the other side, on a makeshift hockey rink inside of Studio 21, seeing how adept Darling is with a hockey stick oppositeHarold Reynolds is pretty impre sive in its own right.
"The main idea was just to capitalize on the energy on the building," said senior coordinatingproducer Josh Bernstein. "There was a lot of talk back and forth, a lot of fun had between who did well and who didn't do well bragging rights. These guys are at the heart of it pro athletes."
Sometimes that authenticity can be lost in analyst chairs, but from what I sawthere was something pure and fun there.
"I'm a hockey nerd, but I'm a sports nerd in general, so growing up watching so much baseball and so many different players, different eras, this is really cool. It's a Rasheem Green Jersey lot of fun," Weekes told SN.
"I remember watching Ron Darling and Harold Reynolds play, so for us to be able to do this it's really cool, man. It's super fun, it's super fun."
